STATEMENT: Schiff Statement on Senate Republicans Plan to Go Nuclear, Overrule Senate Parliamentarian on Clean Air Act Waivers

Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released the following statement afterreportsthat Senate Republicans plan to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, the chamber’s independent and nonpartisan referee, and move forward with measures under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), despite the independent rulings that say the law cannot be used to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waivers:
“If Senate Republicans move forward with plans to overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, they will be going against their ownpromisesto follow the Senate’s rules, the Government Accountability Office, and nearly 60 years ofbipartisanU.S. environmental policy. It would amount to going nuclear, and there will be no going back.
“I implore my colleagues in the Senate to not move forward with this nuclear option. It would establish a dangerous precedent of circumventing decisions by the Senate Parliamentarian, which could be weaponized against them and their own states in the future, just as it’s being contemplated for California.”
Background:
Following Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin’s unprecedented request to Congress to use the CRA to overturn EPA waivers for California, Senators Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)petitionedthe U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the independent federal watchdog, to issue a decision on whether the waivers are subject to the CRA.
The GAO found that theCRA is inapplicable to these waivers.
Per theGAO,“the Clean Air Act generally preempts states from adopting or enforcing emission control standards for new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines. However, the Clean Air Act requires the EPA Administrator to grant a waiver of preemption for a state that adopted a standard prior to March 30, 1966. Only California can qualify for preemption waivers under this section because it is the only state that adopted a standard prior.” The EPA has granted over 100 of California’s waiver requests since the 1960s.
In April, the Senate Parliamentarianreaffirmedthe GAO’s findings that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. In a separate finding, the Congressional Research Service told Senator Schiff’s office: “In practice, Congress has treated GAO’s opinion as the final word regarding applicability of the CRA.”
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